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Party state unit chief Mangani Lal Mandal made the comments a day after the state building construction department issued a notification directing Rabri Devi to shift to 39, Harding Road, which has been “marked” as the residence of the leader of the opposition in the Legislative Council.
Speaking to reporters, Mandal said the bungalow at 10, Circular Road, located just opposite the chief minister’s official residence at 1, Ani Marg, “will not be vacated, no matter what happens”.
He alleged that “This decision reflects the ill will of the ruling NDA towards our leader Lalu Prasad. Why did Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wait for two decades before allotting a government bungalow for the leader of the opposition in the Legislative Council? And if it was necessary, why did the government not keep 10, Circular Road? He should have considered the fact that its occupants, Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, have both served as chief ministers.”
According to Minister of State Santosh Kumar Suman, the bungalow was allotted to Rabri Devi as per the earlier provision of “lifetime” residence for former chief ministers.
Suman said, “That provision had to be scrapped after the Allahabad High Court judgment a few years ago. In any case, we are not depriving Rabri Devi of the bungalow. Besides, the government has the right to decide which bungalow should be allotted to whom.”
“Nitish Kumar has decided to side with the BJP. The JD(U) supremo is fed up with his coalition partner’s aggressiveness, which has forced him to give up his beloved home department. Therefore, knowing the BJP’s ill will towards Lalu ji, Nitish Kumar has tried to appease Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ilk by insulting our leader,” Mandal asserted.
The RJD leader said, “The ruling NDA should remember that even though we are in the opposition, we have got more votes than any of its constituents in the recent assembly elections. According to the Election Commission, we have got more than one crore votes, while the NDA’s largest constituent BJP has got less than 90 lakh votes. So it would be better if they do not try to undermine us.”
Mandal, who was speaking after a party meeting which reviewed the RJD’s dismal performance in the elections, which saw its tally drop to 25 from 75 five years ago, said, “We did not lose the elections. It was the system that worked against us. We should consider ourselves winners and not losers.”
“Look at the huge resources that the BJP-led NDA has. Our leader Tejashwi Yadav had to work against his fleet of helicopters and chartered schemes, huge sums of money donated by big business houses. We should not think that we have lost,” Mandal said.